The invention concerns a rear view mirror assembly for commercial vehicles, in particular, for buses.
For the last named installation purpose, many very conspicuous mirror designs have been employed, in which cases, a mirror arrangement placed substantially forward on the upper end of the A-column of the bus chassis has been used. In these outward extending designs, the so-called xe2x80x9ccrescent mirrorxe2x80x9d, the main mirror and further additional mirrors are integrated for (a) the monitoring of the passenger entrance area and (b) for visual supervision of such areas not otherwise within the driver""s view.
A representation of such xe2x80x9ccrescent mirrorsxe2x80x9d is disclosed in DE 44 29 604 A1 (corresponding to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/804,205 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,382,804). In this case, the outwardly extending housing is designed as a self supporting, foamed component with a foam core and an enveloping, stiffening layer. For the installation of this foamed component onto the chassis, anchor plates are embedded on the end thereof, which is in proximity to said chassis. The anchor plates, in turn, are threadably connectable to a corresponding anchor block on the bus body to form a pivoting securement.
A problematic aspect of this known mirror is the stability of the foam structure as such, since such structures, because of the considerably large dimensioning of the mirror arrangement extension, are subject to the action of high forces arising from driving dynamics. This is true also for the stability of the connection between the foam-embedded anchor plate and the foam material which envelopes it.
Moreover, the foaming of self supporting, voluminous molded components, as these are used in the DE 44 29 604 A1 in the illustrated bus mirrors, is not without technical problems in molding.
From the standpoint of safety and design, however, the above described xe2x80x9ccrescent mirrorsxe2x80x9d have been favored for buses.
Evolving from this, the present invention takes upon itself the purpose of creating a rear view mirror arrangement for commercial vehicles, in particular suitable for buses, the constructive concept of which, in regard to stability, installation ease, and formative characteristics, is especially suited to these xe2x80x9ccrescent mirrorsxe2x80x9d.
In accordance with this, the rear view mirror is provided with:
a support arm installable on the body, having
a carrying tubular structure as core element,
a main mirror fastened to the free end of the tubular structure,
a housing having a mirror plate recessed therein, and
a molded part enveloping and covering the tubular structure between its end proximal to the bus body and the principal mirror.
In an advantageous manner, the given tubular structure brings the required stability to the mirror arrangement. By means of the design of the main mirror, as a stand-alone mirror with housing and mirror pane, a conventional mirror can be used, for instance, such as is employed for trucks. The molded portion enveloping the tubular structure serves as a shell shaped in selected design, which simultaneously achieves aerodynamic improvements and an additional stability to the tubular structure.
The latter is especially true when, in accord with a preferred development of the object of the invention, the molded component as a part molded around the tubular structure is comprised of, for instance, a two-component hard foam. Not only does a design of this kind for the molded part bring with it simplifications in manufacturing and in the technical requirements of installation, but the tubular structure itself is greatly reinforced by said molded component and additionally stabilized at the same time.
In accord with preferred formulations of the subject of the invention, the molded component exhibits at least one placement recess for the acceptance of one or more auxiliary mirrors. These placement recesses are very simply made in the case of a formed, foam component.
The auxiliary mirrors, can, when the case requires, be installed with an adjustment means on the molded part, wherein the mechanismxe2x80x94or the auxiliary mirrorxe2x80x94can be threadedly engaged directly with the molded component. In the case of a molded foam component, this is especially simple. The auxiliary mirrors further can be adjustable by electric motors, replaceable and/or heatable. The given arrangement is governed by the wish of the customer.
To be sure, if the molded component in the case of production from foamed material is comparatively light in weight, the overall weight of the mirror arrangement can still be reduced by means of inset cores in the said foamed material of the molded part. Also in this case a stabilization for the tubular structure can in turn be achieved ifxe2x80x94as is allowed for in a further advantageous improvementxe2x80x94the inset cores lie closely about the tube members of the tubular structure.
Further advantageous embodiments of the object of the invention are found in the design of the tubular construction, the attachment of the same onto to vehicle body and the installation of the self-contained principal mirror. More detail can be given in this respect by reference to the illustrated description.
For the remainder, additional features, details and advantages of the invention may be inferred from the description following hereinafter, by the use of the attached drawing, in which example embodiments of the object of the invention are presented in greater detail.